Has it lost it's appeal???

I feel much safer eating a deer/whatever-have-you-killed-and-tagged, that I myself processed, than the recent meat packing problems near Brooks. Myself I clobbered alot of deer in Saskatchewan and less so in Alberta. And I have yet to receive any complaints from my then prairie living, very young and growing family, about 'pungent deer meat' hot off the BBQ. Quite the contrary actually. One of the nice benefits about deer hunting in Southern Saskatchewan is that it was very affordable, 99.9% very successful and 100% grain fed. We filled up the family freezer with two filled tags each winter, for almost a decade. Almost our family's yearly intake of red meat. Yes, we then hunted to fill our freezers in the most affordable manner.

just pointing that out to others.......
 
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Don't think there is a fair or even comparison on the costs of meat.Which I might add isn't a concern of mine either.

If you can step off your back deck and clobber a deer that you see every evening then of course your cost isn't going to be much.

If you live in the city(not starting a city slob/ethical hunter issue here) it can be very expensive to head out for the hunt.

My issue is the total appeal of going hunting, doing the hunt ,pursuing the game and where the feeling of being excited for that hunt goes.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
Don't think there is a fair or even comparison on the costs of meat.Which I might add isn't a concern of mine either.

If you can step off your back deck and clobber a deer that you see every evening then of course your cost isn't going to be much.

If you live in the city(not starting a city slob/ethical hunter issue here) it can be very expensive to head out for the hunt.

My issue is the total appeal of going hunting, doing the hunt ,pursuing the game and where the feeling of being excited for that hunt goes.
Click to expand...

I was just respectfully expressing my situation & my opinion just like H4831 had his own too.

that is all...........
 
If my sole reason for hunting is to put meat in the freezer then I'd best quit now as it is not the least cost effective. If I wanted to fill the freezer cheap I would go to the livestock auction and buy a cow, or better yet just rustle one.........I got a call early this a.m for an invite to deer hunt at a buddy's this afternoon. By the time I pack my lunch($5), gather my clothes($300) camera($200), pull out my .348(which fortunately I inherited or I'd be adding $1500), go check the zero on it @$3 per round, $45 for a buck tag, $30 in gas and all this before I have set foot in the stand?? Well I could have put alot of beef, chicken and pork in the freezer........just saying. Hmmm, I was going to pass on anything small ain hopes of getting the one of the two biggies he has coming in, an 11 point and a 12 pointer. I think I'd best just shoot if there is antlers at all and fill my tag, the expense is way too much to pass on a shot!!
 
Surely you don't make the mistake of actually tallying up the money you spend on hunting? Man, if you want hunting to lose its appeal, that's got to be the way to cause that to happen!:)
 
Short answer: No!

Long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Lol just kidding. If you don't feel like going out that day? Don't. If you feel like it? Go for it. That's pretty much how i do things and i've just spent most of my time off in the last 6 weeks out in the bush looking for a stupid bull moose to fill my dads tag. After the first few weeks it almost felt like work. Wasn't fun freezing my a$$ off so the next batch of days off i had, i went up to the city and chassed tail for 4 days instead of looking for moose. Was fun and it was nice to change things up.
 
Just finished my 45th deer season ... wouldn't miss it on a bet. Probably enjoy it more now
than ever. Don't care if I tag out or not ... I've shot a pile of deer, several moose and a few
black bear, but nothing I'd consider "trophy class". I get a bigger kick now of watching the
odd new guy and one of the up-and-coming teenagers getting hooked on the sport and their first animal.
Two years past, one of the teens took their first animal ... as luck would have it a 10-pointer
that one the local big-buck contest and later scored 159-1/8. Not a bad way to start-out !

Waterfowl & upland hunting holds just as much enjoyment. Sunrises, familiar bush trails,
fertile marshes, frosty mornings, the smell of Hoppe's No.9, wet dog fur and campfires
all hold their special allure, as does evenings in camp & BS-ing with good friends.

Watching & photographing wildlife for me is just about as enjoyable as hunting.
A certain satisfaction comes from outwitting a big buck that's but it past you
a time or two, as does watching a doe for 15 minutes or so that doesn't know
you're there. One of the highlights for me, during a deer season, was to have a
big (for Ontario) bull moose ... bed down for the morning, not more than 25 yards from me.

I get considerable satisfaction from making a good shot, whether a double on
woodcock or a tough flush on grouse. Shooting ducks I've called in over decoys
I've carved myself, retrieved by a dog I trained... is pretty neat.
Catching 20" trout on size 18 & 20 dry flies you've tied yourself rates right
up there too.

If you're enjoying it less, step back a bit and re-examine what got you started
in the first place. Take the time to enjoy some of the less obvious facets of
the sport and even expand your interests. ;)
 
With all due respect to H4831 and some of the others here, when I say I hunt for meat, I mean that I hunt big game for meat. The last time I costed out my venison, including the amortized cost of my rifle, the tags that ate, the gas, the bullets, and all the other incidentals, my venison cost me a 1.65\pound. When we factor in the fact that we have taken two moose and an elk in the last two years, my cost per pound of wild big-game meet is considerably lower than even that. :bigHug:My family actually prefers game to beef.

Waterfowl hunting is the hunting I do for fun. Big game hunting puts meat in the freezer and makes the wife happy to allow me to continue hunting waterfowl.

Add to the fact, that many people who are now new hunters are doing so because of the high quality of the meat they will be harvesting.They want to eat meat that they know has not been commercially raised and/or fed hormones and supplements. The actual cost of the meat is secondary to the quality of what they will receive. In addition, many chefs are embracing Wildgame and some top professional cooks are now showing people how to make the most of their harvest. These are people who never would've hunted for any other reason. We need to embrace them into the community and stop worrying about the future. These are the types of hunters who will help ensure the future of hunting. The reality is that they may start targeting fawns and young bucks over trophy animals for the sake of the meat quality. That will likely lead to different pressures on the wildlife than they experience today. Laws may need to be changed. Oh well. The laws always change in order to confront new realities .
 
Great post, beretta boy...you, sir, have your head screwed on correctly.:cheers:

sjemac, your numbers don't factor in the lost wages that are incurred when a working man takes a week or more off his job to hunt. I was an hourly-paid tradesman, and my non-hunting co-workers never failed to point out this particular expense to me when I took time for hunting trips. Among other hunts, I always took the first week of turkey season. If I did well and got two birds, it still worked out to around $50/pound!

I still remember the astonished expressions on some faces..."Geez...you must really enjoy that...!"

Yup!
 
KT I felt exactly like that a few years back. It got to the point where I quit for a year completely. I was probably going to shut it down for good until I met a fellow who rekindled the fire in me. He showed me a whole new way to hunt around here. Sadly he passed a couple of years ago and I'm back to hunting alone.

It's tough fighting for time to go or money to cover costs but what I do is hunt close to PA to save on gas and only go out for a couple of hours after work in Sept/Oct. Rather than the multi-day trips I just go out for many short trips. It helped to cut down on the frustration if nothing is moving. I also started with a bow and that has helped. Hunting in that nice Sept weather is very enjoyable. Beats the hell out of sitting in the cold.

Maybe a year off wouldn't hurt. Seeing other people go out you start missing it pretty quick.
 
The appeal of hunting was lost over 10 years ago to me. I still put in for the draws on moose and antelope but for deer I just dont want to anymore.My dad (RIP) went down the same road as me. Just one day he said enuff was enuff and stopped hunting.Not sure why he quit it,but for me it was the ppl I was hunting with...good hard ethical hunters and all,but the cost to me of not sharing expenses was what got me.I really dont miss it. I still kept all my rifles and have even more of them now.Also as mentioned above the time off work was hitting me in the pocket book...Hard...

10 years later I can afford to take the time off,but I dont have any desire to go back out hunting bambi,an unless I meet a great gal with a son or daughter I just cant see myself getting back into it. Its still nice to stay in the loop and see what animals are taken and where,but for me at this point...thats enuff...
 
I decided to forgo my annual deer safari to Manitoba this year. First time in about 10 years. And for financial reasons. We did a down-to-bare-studs reno of our kitchen/livingroom this fall and also we have an anniversary trip to Hawaii this Jan. Everything is paid for without borrowing money but the capitalist in me said it was time to build up the bank account back to a comfortable level. Oh well, the deer deserve a reprieve once in a while.


But I'm sure missing it......:(
 
What's this nonsense of the cost of meat?
A week of moose hunting with three tanks of fuel for the PSD for the
fore and aft trip, vittles, the juice to keep the camp fire burning at dark
and to only shoot a couple of feathers.
Grouse can git awfluffly spendie too.
The commadderie is what is priceless.

Went out for a full day with a buddy yesterday on his sxs atv.
The further south we went, the more January it got.
Saw one yote and he wasn't waisting any time to be unseen.
Just after midday me toes were unhappy.
As I type this, tired bones and all, I am actually glad we came home furless.
Rain and no heater can make for a long journey home.
Fun day to say the least.
 
i think every hunter goes thew lows. when my kids were little it was hard to get away. as they grew up easier just take them with you. other interests pop up in your life that may slow the hunting for a while. this year i hunted the least days in over a decade. probably because i bought a cabin this year and spent much of the summer weekends away. next year sping bear at the cabin. my hunting days will increase.
 
jjohnwm said:
Great post, beretta boy...you, sir, have your head screwed on correctly.:cheers:

sjemac, your numbers don't factor in the lost wages that are incurred when a working man takes a week or more off his job to hunt. I was an hourly-paid tradesman, and my non-hunting co-workers never failed to point out this particular expense to me when I took time for hunting trips. Among other hunts, I always took the first week of turkey season. If I did well and got two birds, it still worked out to around $50/pound!

I still remember the astonished expressions on some faces..."Geez...you must really enjoy that...!"

Yup!
Click to expand...

You're right they don't. But then I don't take time off to hunt because I have the luck of living in the middle of big game country and have shot most of my animals within 10 minutes of the back door. The moose this year was shot exactly 150 yards from my driveway. The rest of my point it valid no matter where the hunter is living. Many people are getting into hunting now purely for the quality of the meat. Game meat is growing in popularity and unlike Europe, the only way people in North America can get it is through hunting or knowing a hunter. Comparing the cost of venison to the cost of beef is not an appropriate comparison. Comparing wild venison to farmed venison is.

The point is that for many hunters it could be solely about the meat and if they work it properly it could be about low cost meat. Slagging them for that is no better that slagging trophy hunters.

Now my duck and pheasant meat costs me about $50/pound but that cause I hunt birds primarily for fun and I shoot a lot of them.
 
Could be that we are spoiled with close proximity to quality hunting areas and quality animals and having such easy access to this resource all of the time has kind of ruined the magic of hunting for some.

Maybe step back for a bit like others have said and take a break , see if the mystique returns.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
Just wondering if others out there feel the same.

I used to be so dedicated to hunting and look forward to the start of the season.I even purchased a bow so I could get as much season as I could.This season I think I have been out maybe four times.


Now, it seems almost like a chore or an inconvenience to head out hunting and there is always something more important to do.

Is it me or is it not what it used to be???
Click to expand...

I hear you man. I used to be MAD about hunting. I could not wait until Muzzle then shortly afterwards came Centerfire season. I made the rounds every morning and evening scouting looking for that glimpse of the big guy. This was in the early 90's. The population around SW MB where I hunted was crazy. You could drive the 6 mile square and loose count of how many deer you would see in the fields. As the local farmers sold there land to the NEW European farmers, things changed. The climate has even changed from the early 90's. Then because of the deer numbers the numbers of hunters from the cities started to increase. I can go on and on.

Looking at it from today's picture, I HATE the COLD, I HATE sitting STILL, I HATE not seeing game, I HATE all the STUPID hunters who think they know it all and are cool. In other words I am getting old.

If I want to shoot a deer I can go to the farm and shoot one any time of year right out of the living room window in the comfort of Mom and Dad's home but I don't. They have a safe haven from all the other RedNeck hunters. Little do they know that some of the biggest bucks in the area hang around the farm because of this. I let them go to see them grow.

JMO.
 
I find that the older I get the less important that shooting an animal gets. I still spend lots of time in the woods hunting, but find I spend most of that time walking and exploring new areas that I will probably never hunt. I still like to put a moose or some venison in the freezer but I don't hunt as "hard" as I used to. Seems that I take more time to admire the beauty of the outdoors than I used to. Hunting has been a major part of my life for the past 35 years, and I hope it will be for as long as I'm able to roam the woods. Hunter's change and evolve. I've gone from being a meat hunter to a horn hunter and now back somewhere in between. When I have to resort to Truck hunting, that's when I'll call it a season!
 
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